Tears
by FallenAngelForever
Summary: Post s4...Edgar was right..it would come back and haunt her in a couple of days...Chloe has an emotional breakdown. Totally JC with a hint of CE. [oneshot]


A/N: Yay! I'm back in fan fiction after way too long a break. I've been renting 24 season 4 cuz I haven't seen it. Anyways I just finished the disk with Chloe's big field assignment. Remember when she gets back and she's talking to Edgar about how she didn't feel anything when she shot him and Edgar said it would hit her in a couple of days? Well that's what this is based on. There is JC in this and maybe a hint of CE.

Disclaimer: If they were mine…Jack and Chloe would so be a couple.

Here she was clad in pyjamas watching some corny cop movie. She already knew what was going to happen, it was too much like her work, except a lot less complex, and there was a lot more romance going on.

Suddenly, some music, even cornier then the movie, sprung into action as the main character killed the bad guy. Chloe laughed, she could do that.

Wait, she had done that.

It had been only two days ago. It was her first field assignment, and frankly, it had been the most terrifying thing she had ever gone through. The shock of being shot at, and having her car rammed by another was more then she could handle at the time.

She remembered panicking and calling Jack, she remembered punching the combination into the back to get the weapons. It had been 3-4-1-3. Then she'd shot at the man.

She'd shot a man.

She'd killed a man.

She had taken the life away from a person. A living breathing person.

There was probably some family crying out there because of what she'd done. She had done a terrible, terrible thing. Tears had escaped her eyes and were running freely down her cheeks.

What had she done?

Slowly she picked up the phone and began dialling. Finally, it picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi. It's Chloe."

"Chloe? Why are you calling me at three in the morning? Is something wrong?"

The voice of Edgar Stiles showed concern and annoyance for his friend.

"You were right Edgar, you were right."

Chloe's voice was hard to understand through the sobs.

"I was right about what?"

"That it was going to hit me in two days. It hit me. It just hit me."

"What? Who hit you? "

"No one hit me. I shot a man, remember? I shot a man."

"Chloe its okay, everyone goes through this kind of thing."

"Not everyone kills somebody. Oh my god I'm a complete idiot. There's probably a group of his friends out there forming a let's kill Chloe O'Brian club."

"Chloe, you did it to save yourself. It's alright. You didn't do it for fun, you didn't do it because you wanted too. You did it to save your life."

"But I don't want to have done it."

"Listen, Chloe, I'd love to stay up and talk, but I've got to go. We're holding a memorial service for mom tomorrow, and I really need to sleep."

His voice sounded extremely tired, and Chloe was extremely relieved to hang up on Edgar. Their conversation had been awkward, and Edgar didn't really have the experience to understand where she was coming from. She picked up the phone, and dialled another number.

"Hello?"

A dark gruff voice answered.

"Hi."

The single word barely exited her mouth. She shouldn't be calling him, and she sure as hell shouldn't be calling him for something as small as this.

"Chloe?"

"Ya. It's me."

"Is something wrong? You're crying"

"I know I'm crying Jack. I just want to know how to deal with it."

"How to deal with what?"

"Killing someone."

Jack knew what she was talking about. He remembered when he had first killed a person, he had taken it pretty seriously and had never shed a tear, but inside he was crying his heart out. He'd actually thought Chloe had taken it pretty well. Apparently she had not.

"Chloe, relax, it will be okay."

"Jack how is this going to be okay? This is worse then when my parents died!"

"Chloe, it can't be worse then that."

"It is though! It's horrible when lives are taken from you, but its worse when you're the one who's taking the life!"

Jack Bauer didn't know how to respond. So he just listened to her crying for about fifteen minutes, when she finally broke the silence.

"Jack, where are you?"

"I'm in Vegas, tomorrow I'm going to Chicago, why?"

"How long would it take you to come here?"

"Chloe, I can't go back to LA. It's too risky."

"Please Jack. I have no one here I can talk to."

"I thought you were married."

"Me and Morris got divorced while you were working in Washington."

Once again, Jack had no clue how to respond to her. She had no one to talk to and was going through something extremely traumatizing. He thought about it for a few minutes then spoke.

"I'll be there in about an hour"

Then he hung up.

When he reached Chloe's building, it took him a while to remember her number. He had only been here once, and it had to have been at least a year ago. It didn't help that he had only been here for a few minutes.

After buzzing her elderly neighbour by accident, Jack was let into the building and he walked up the stairs until he reached the third floor.

He knocked quietly so as not to disturb anyone else, and when she answered, he noticed she was a wreck.

She was wearing a blue pyjama top and grey sweats. Her hair was down and in a mess and her eyes were red from crying.

"Hey"

Her voice seemed tired and seemed to lack the normal sarcastic quality she usually carried.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Jack, what do you think?"

She led him to the couch and she continued talking.

"Two days ago I killed somebody, and then you pretended to die and now we've got the whole mess with the Chinese to solve. Life is just too hectic."

"That's how it always seems after your first shot. I remember when my dad handed me a gun and told me to shoot at my sick dog. I shot it and after that I felt like the world had come to an end."

"He made you shoot your dog?"

"Ya."

"That's cruel."

"It was, but it taught me a lesson."

"What kind of lesson?"

"That sometimes you have to do things for the better."

"What do you mean?"

"Think Chloe, if you hadn't shot him, you would have died."

"So! I should have shot him in the leg or something. That would have saved the both of us!"

"He still could have hurt you with a bullet in his leg. I've done it before. It's for the better that he died. If he hadn't he would've killed you. And that would've been one of the most devastating things I would ever have to go through if I knew you had died and there was nothing I could have done."

"Jack you know I'm not worth it. I'm just a friendless divorced analyst who doesn't get paid much. I have nothing. I'm not worth it to anyone."

"I think you're worth it, Chloe. I think you're one of the most amazing people I've ever met."

"You really think that?"

"Yes."

He pulled her close to him and embraced her in a hug. Surprisingly, Chloe didn't pull away, but instead pulled closer. Together they sat, her crying, and him rocking her, if anyone who didn't know them saw them, they'd think they were a couple.

Eventually he pulled away and spoke.

"Chloe, I should get going now. I'd love to stay here but I can't. I could get caught, and its best if I leave during dark when I'll be less visible."

"You could stay here! I could hide you away, no one would find out. It's not like I'm going to bring Buchanan, Logan or any of those people! Maybe Tony and Michelle could come visit you too! It would work out."

She spoke stubbornly, and was determined not to let him go.

"Chloe, I wish I could, but I can't. You know that wouldn't work, and someone would find out eventually."

"Well then maybe I could come visit you in Chicago sometime?"

"I don't think so. It's best that we don't keep in touch. It's easier that way."

"But"

"No buts Chloe."

He continued speaking.

"You know I'm really going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too."

He turned towards the door and then stopped. Once again he turned around, this time towards Chloe. Slowly he brought her close to him and softly his lips touched hers. Then he pulled himself away and began to open the door.

"I'll miss you Chloe O'Brian."

Before she could reply, he was out the door. She knew there was no point in chasing him, all he would do was break her heart again. The tears were heavier now then when she had first begun crying almost two hours ago. Chloe managed to make it to the window in time to see his car drive away.

Jack Bauer could add another person to the list of people he had unintentionally hurt that week.


End file.
